Contacts:
Barbara Jean Walsh, Professional BoatBuilder magazine (888) 668-8801
proboattraining@proboat.com

Caroline Chetelat, ABYC (410) 990-4460, ext. 22
cchetelat@abycinc.org

Tom Marhevko, NMMA (312) 946-6200
tmarhevko@nmma.org

October 25, 2007, Annapolis, MD; Brooklin, ME; and Chicago, IL: The Marine Industry Technical Education Council (MITEC) announced today the speakers, panelists, and events that will comprise the upcoming Conference on Marine Industry Technical Training (COMITT), to take place February 18 - 20, 2008 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The conference brochure is now available online at http://www.comitt.org/.

Produced by MITEC and co-sponsored by the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC), the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and Professional Boatbuilder magazine (PBB), the conference will examine key workforce-development and technical-training issues in the marine industry.

To open and close the conference, Barbara Jean Walsh of Proboat E-Training and David Veech of the Institute for Lean Systems will guide attendees through onsite networking sessions, designed to help attendees make face-to-face connections with the right people, projects, vendors, and tools for their individual endeavors. MITEC members will be taking part in these informal sessions and will also be moderating COMITT seminars and workshops.

A strong line-up of more than 20 speakers from the marine industry, education, and government will lead programs on the following topics:

• Training Tools
• Grant-Writing Tips
• Training Frontline Supervisors
• Maine's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development
• Engine Manufacturer's Expectations
• Globalization and Standards
• Career Centers in Workforce Development
• Mining Students, Striking Gold!
• Regional Curriculum Standards
• Grand Banks University
• New Media in the Classroom and in the Marine Industry
• Apprenticeships
• How Marine Training Programs Can Succeed

Thanks to the support of Elluminate Inc., selected COMITT presentations will be presented simultaneously as free online events. Registration for these programs is available at http://comitt2008.eventbrite.com.

To download a COMITT 2008 brochure, to register online, or to sign on as a conference sponsor, visit the COMITT web site at www.comitt.org. Conference planners are encouraging potential participants to join the "COMITT 2008" group on the social network Facebook to share their ideas and concerns. Planners have also established an interactive news page at www.pageflakes.com/COMITT2008 and a "connections" map at www.attendr.com/COMITT2008.

COMITT 2008 will provide a forum to discuss, present and demonstrate industry support of technical workforce education, training, certification and professional development. COMITT's purpose is to become the internationally recognized leading summit to highlight the marine industry's commitment to developing and maintaining a highly-skilled and technically proficient workforce.

For additional information on COMITT, visit www.comitt.org.